


Closed

by sepsner



Category: South Park
Genre: AU, M/M, Meet-Cute, Older AU, One Shot, coffee shop AU, it's just a dumb AU okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 00:35:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16800184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepsner/pseuds/sepsner
Summary: Jimmy needs some coffee to calm his nerves before his set, but the nearby café is closed. Luckily for him, the blond, wild-eyed employee is still around.





	Closed

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of NaNo 2018, may be edited later!

Jimmy paced. As much as he could pace, anyway. He ran his jokes through his head - _so I first really understood what a boner was when I was eight years old, and_ \- maybe the material was bad. Maybe he wasn’t funny. It was almost 8pm, but Jimmy was tired. He had been losing sleep over this gig, his first real gig, and now it was all catching up with him.  
  
Coffee. It was time for coffee.  
  
This city was new, and Jimmy had no idea where anything was. Thankfully for him, he had noticed a cute coffee shop on his way to the venue that was nearby. He shrugged on his coat to fight the biting September chill and headed over.  
  
The lights were on, and someone was in there, sweeping the floors or something. From what Jimmy could see, he was cute - a mess of blond hair haphazardly on his head, a shirt thrown on lazily, and an apron, tied a little too tight, showing off his silhouette. Slammable, overall.  
  
Jimmy reached for the door and yanked it, but it wouldn’t budge. The blond looked over and frowned. He headed over and tapped the window, pointing at an opening and closing times chart.  
  
 **Friday:** Open 8am-8pm  
  
Jimmy frowned and pulled out his phone. 7:56pm. He held it up to the door, trying to convince the blond to let him in. It seemed to work, as the other rolled his eyes, realising that this was one of _those_ customers. He dug in his pockets and pulled out a key. Once the door was unlocked, Jimmy headed in, making sure not to slip his crutches on the wet floor.  
  
“Thank you,” Jimmy sighed.  
  
“Whatever, man,” the barista mumbled. He put down the mop and let himself behind the counter, not looking too pleased with the change of routine. “We don’t get customers this late usually. The eight-to-eight thing is just a fancy thing my dad… Ugh. What can I get you?”  
  
“Just a c- coffee, nothing fancy,” Jimmy replied. He had worked on the stammer, but it was hard to shrug.  
  
The blond didn’t look too pleased that he had to make a coffee at this time of night, but did so anyway. Jimmy squinted to read his name tag as he worked - Tweek? What a weird name. Actually, the coffee shop was called Tweek Bros, was that why? Heh, the son of the owner, huh? And obviously had a few things to say about it. Tweek served the coffee in a takeaway cup, sliding it over to Jimmy.  
  
“Four dollars.”  
  
Jimmy pointed to the menu. “Th- three fourty.”  
  
Tweek groaned. “Four dollars, because you’re making me work and it’s almost closing time.”  
  
Jimmy laughed a little, fishing out his wallet. This Tweek guy had some wit about him. “F- five dollars,” Jimmy said, handing the note over, “for your tuh- time.”  
  
“Generous,” Tweek mumbled, probably hoping Jimmy wouldn’t hear. Of course he did.  
  
Jimmy took the coffee in one hand, using the other to lean against his crutch. “Are you good with me staying here?”  
  
Tweek grunted. “What?”  
  
“I can’t exactly walk b- back with the coffee,” Jimmy hummed. “I won’t b- be in your way.”  
  
Jimmy watched as Tweek narrowed his eyes, obviously thinking over his choices. Obviously wanting Jimmy to _go_. But, like most scenarios, Jimmy got what he wanted. What right-minded person would tell someone on crutches to go fuck themselves, anyway?  
  
“Sure.” Tweek shook his head. “Just sit wherever. I’ll clean around you.”  
  
Jimmy shot Tweek a beaming smile, but Tweek had looked away by then. Aw, someone was grumpy. Jimmy hobbled on one crutch to a table, set down the coffee, then took a seat. Sure, he had great upper body strength, but it was always a relief to take the pressure off from his arms.  
  
He sat back and sipped his coffee. Tweek went back to work, completely ignoring him. Jimmy didn’t really blame him. He _had_ just been a pretty annoying customer.  
  
“Hey,” Jimmy called out. “Tweek.”  
  
Tweek didn’t seem impressed. He stopped mid-mop and turned slowly towards Jimmy. He didn’t reply, just glared. Wow, Jimmy was definitely his least favourite person right now.  
  
“Thanks for th- the coffee.”  
  
Tweek looked even _more_ pissed off.  
  
“I mean, I really needed it. I’m about to d- do a gig and my nerves were shot. I really ap- appre- I appreciate it, bud.”  
  
Tweek’s shoulders lowered, and he glanced away from Jimmy. Maybe he was calming down a little more, and not totally hating Jimmy? Hah, he could only hope.  
  
“No problem,” Tweek mumbled. “Sorry for being a jackass. Today was rough.” He looked back over at Jimmy and added, before Jimmy could ask why his day was so bad, “a gig?”  
  
Jimmy took a sip of his drink and nodded. “At the fu- Phoenix, down the road.”  
  
“Oh!” Tweek seemed to know the place. “So you’re…”  
  
“A comedian,” Jimmy filled him in.  
  
Tweek nodded. “It was either that, or a singer, and, uh…” Tweek bit his lip. “No, nothing.”  
  
“No, what were you g- gonna say?”  
  
“Uh…” Tweek fiddled with his shirt. “Well, you don’t _look_ like a singer.”  
  
Jimmy couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re right! Thi- this is a face only c- comedy can stand! If my jokes are b- bad, at least they’ll laugh at my face.”  
  
Tweek laughed a little, his cheeks going red. “That’s not what I meant!”  
  
“D- don’t worry,” Jimmy smiled, shaking his head. “I know what I look like.”  
  
Tweek glanced at the floor, then went back to mopping. Jimmy had gone and unsettled the poor thing. He had looked like a deer in headlights before, but now he was practically an ant under someone’s boot.  
  
“I don’t bite,” Jimmy said. “Unless you wu- want me to.”  
  
Tweek’s head spun around again, his face flushed pink. “What!”  
  
Jimmy couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. “Aw man, you’re real cute!” He finished off his coffee and sighed, then pulled himself up on his crutches. “Seriously, thanks for opening up f- for me. I d- dunno what I would’ve done without you.”  
  
Tweek bit on his lip, looking at Jimmy, then away from Jimmy, back at him-- “No problem,” he mumbled, his hands wringing the handle of the mop. Jimmy figured that Tweek was just anxious about someone being in his space, so he headed past the blond for the front door.  
  
“Wait!”  
  
Jimmy stopped mid-step. He glanced over at Tweek, who was now looking at him with determination.  
  
“You’re-” Tweek swallowed. “You’re cute, too, you know!” He moved the mop handle to cover part of his face. It didn’t work too well - Jimmy could still see most of him.  
  
Jimmy shot him a lazy smile. “Thanks. Have a g- good night.”  
  
“Good luck!” Tweek had shrunk, trying to hide in his shirt. “I bet you’ll blow them away!”  
  
“I will now I have the s- support of a c- cutie like you.” Jimmy winked at Tweek, making him retreat even further into his shirt. Laughing a little to himself, Jimmy made his way out.  
  
The brunet checked his phone - 8:04pm. Still almost an hour until his set started. He took a deep breath. Well, there was no harm in walking up and down the street a few times.  
  
About twenty minutes passed of Jimmy wandering around with no good reason. He had headed back to the venue and was preparing to go back inside when he saw a familiar face.  
  
Tweek was crossing the street towards him.  
  
“Hey,” Jimmy smirked. “What’re you d- doing here?”  
  
Tweek tugged at the dark blue coat that made his body look like a rectangle with legs. “I came to watch. You _are_ performing here, right?”  
  
Jimmy laughed a little. “What, you thi- think I’d make it up to p- p- try and pick you up?”  
  
“Maybe!” Tweek tugged at the coat. “Did you?”  
  
Jimmy shook his head. “Nah. I’m just… st- still nervous.”  
  
Tweek gave a sigh. “Boy, I feel you there. But… this is just a job, right? Even if the audience doesn’t like your jokes, it’s like… it’s like bad coffee. They’ve already paid. You don’t know if it’s bad until you try it. And… and when you know, you can get better. Ugh… ngh- I mean- you’ll be great.”  
  
A little taken aback, Jimmy smiled. “Yeah. I gu- guess you’ve got a point.” He nodded and put a hand on his stomach. “Thanks, Tweek. You’ve calmed me d- down a bunch.”  
  
Tweek smiled. It was the sweetest smile Jimmy had ever seen. “I can’t wait to watch you.”  
  
“I’d b- better get going, then.”  
  
His heart light, Jimmy left for behind the stage. Tweek’s words echoed in his head - _you don’t know if it’s bad until you try it_. He was right, Jimmy knew. Turns out that the coffee didn’t calm him down. The barista did.  
  
Jimmy ran over his routine a few times. Before he knew it, it was time to go up on stage. He gave himself one more pep talk. You don’t know if it’s bad until you try it. He nodded, puffed his chest out, and strode out on his crutches.  
  
The house lights temporarily blinded him, but he smiled through them, waving out to the crowd. The lights turned down to the floor, rather than shooting directly in Jimmy’s eyes, and he could finally scan the audience as he prepped himself. After pulling over a stool and parking himself on it, Jimmy found Tweek. He looked hopeful, his face bright and eager. Jimmy’s heart swelled. It was only the barista, but… well, he was cute as hell. If one person had his full support for the brunet, then Jimmy could do anything.  
  
He cleared his throat and shook off the last of his nerves. No more of that. It was just him, the audience, and the extremely cute barista.  
  
“I’m Jimmy Valmer,” he started, giving everyone a wave, “and you all paid to hear me talk about d-dicks for half an hour.”  
  
The audience laughed. Tweek laughed. Jimmy knew he could do it.


End file.
